How to Use Groups in Google SketchUp 8

Making and using groups in Google Sketchup are the keys to keeping the stuff in your model from sticking together. Stuff in your model wants to stick to other stuff, but grouped geometry doesn’t stick to anything. Using groups makes working with your model easier.You can select all the geometry in a group by clicking it once with the Select tool. You can move groups and make copies with the Move tool.

Follow these steps to create a group:

Select the geometry (edges and faces) you want to turn into a group.

The simplest way to select multiple entities (edges and faces) is to click them one at a time with the Select tool while holding down the Shift key. You can also use the Select tool to drag a box around the entities you want to select, but this can be tough, depending on where they are.

Choose Edit, Make Group.

You can also right-click and choose Make Group from the context menu that pops up.

If you want to ungroup the geometry in a group, you need to explode it. Right-click the group and choose Explode from the context menu. The edges and faces that were grouped together aren’t grouped together anymore.

To edit the geometry inside a group, double-click it with the Select tool. You know you’re in edit mode when the rest of your model appears to fade back, leaving only your grouped geometry clearly visible. To stop editing a group, click outside it, somewhere else in your modeling window.

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